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Customer experience is not just
a hot topic in consumer markets.
Business-to-business marketers
have also recognised the opportunity
for creating value for customers by
extending what they offer beyond
traditional boundaries. This explains
the ‘servitization’ models adopted
by companies like IBM, Rolls-Royce
and Xerox. Xerox for example, have
moved a long way from just selling
photocopiers to providing document
management business solutions for
their customers.
A focus on delivery ‘in the customer’s
space’ allows the supplier to
become embedded in the customer
organisation, which helps them to
get closer to the customer. Those
companies who are ahead of the game
now offer contracts based on ‘value in
use’ rather than products sold, such
as the ‘total care service’ provided
by Rolls-Royce, which contracts on
the basis of aircraft in the air instead
of engines sold. These servitized
business models create complexity in
terms of responsibility, risk and value
definition, and require greater levels of
cooperation and integration between
supplier and customer. However the
benefits of close supplier-customer
ties include better understanding of
customer requirements leading to
better solutions and stronger business
relationships.
For the supplier this level of customer
closeness not only helps to understand
the customer’s burning issues today
but also provides valuable insight for
tailoring future value propositions. Our
research has shown that customers
expect their suppliers to think about
how to improve their business and are
disappointed if a flow of incremental
innovations does not emerge. While
the pressure on suppliers to be
proactive can be challenging, this
represents an opportunity in a world
where keeping close to customers is
not always easy.
Developing the customer experience is
a challenge organisations are grappling
with across competitive markets.
Achieving great customer experience
requires commitment and cooperation
across your organisation. In order
to become more customer-centric,
organisations must design appropriate
channels around the customer journey,
inspire the commitment of employees
and stakeholders, and measure and
reward the right activities.
However, the most important action
you can take is to step into your
customers’ shoes every now and then
and look at the world through their
eyes.
“
The most
important action
you can take is
to step into your
customers’ shoes
every now and
then and look at
the world through
their eyes.
”
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Management Focus
Walk a mile in their shoes
Customer experience management
means considering the entire customer
journey including those stages
where you are not in contact with the
customer. This might include parts of
the customer journey where you rely
on partner organisations for services
such as bookings or delivery. While
an inside-out perspective might say
those non-core activities are not
your responsibility, when you look
outside-in from your customer’s
perspective, you can see these are
all parts of the customer journey
that need to be considered. Your
approach to customers must also
account for the multiple journeys that
they have with you. For instance, in
the banking sector a customer might
have a savings account, a mortgage
and a credit card with their bank.
Customer experience management will
ensure that all conversations with the
customer take this into account rather
than focussing on individual products.
Management Focus
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